Night Falls
by clcummins12
Summary: Story 3 of "The Night Series" continues from "Night Into Dawn and Beyond". This continues the relationship of Kate Beckett and Richard Castle and a serial killer comes into play. Rated: M for crime/suspense/sexual content/language R/R
1. Chapter 1

****ATTENTION** Yes I did move this chapter and the next from "Night Into Dawn and Beyond" to here. Reason:**

**1) I am making a Castle series called "The Night Series"**

**2) The way my series is working out, it was better if I made this into a whole new story, so you can leave your reviews if you want to again, that would be amazing :)**

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Night Falls: Chapter 1

"Hey dad, what are you doing up so early?" Alexis asked as her father walked into the kitchen.

His hair was still messy; he rubbed his eyes trying to wake himself up. He walked over to the coffee machine, being careful not to bump into anything. "Couldn't sleep, so I decided to get a head start on writing. What are you doing up?"

"I have school, remember?" Alexis said laughing.

"Ah, yes. But isn't today an optional school day?"

"Yeah, but I don't want to get behind on my studies. You never know how much information you could miss by being absent one day."

"Sometimes I wonder if you really are my daughter." He said as they both laughed.

"You should be glad that I want to go to school. Most kids my age are out drinking and going to wild parties."

"To which I will never be more grateful that you are not like that. But don't you want to have fun? Live on the wild side, experience things?"

"I have a father who is not only a writer, but helps with police investigations. I think you experience enough for the both of us. Not to mention you're dating now…gram's told me." Alexis said when he looked at her suspiciously.

"I knew she couldn't keep it quiet. By this time now, I'm sure the whole press has heard about it." Castle said shaking his head as he began to drink his coffee but couldn't help from smiling.

Kate Beckett. God, he loved to say her name. They were finally dating and Castle couldn't be more proud about it. They had both decided to take their relationship slow, not wanting to mess things up. But of course, how slow could you actually go when you've already had sex?

"I don't want things to be awkward for you now that Beckett and I are dating." Castle told her realizing he hadn't even asked Alexis if she was ok with them dating. Normally he just had flings and had never bothered to ask, but with Kate he wanted more. He wanted to have a serious relationship with her. Alexis had always seemed to admire Beckett, after all, Kate was a great role model for his daughter to have. And that's exactly what Alexis needed, a strong woman whom she looked up to and could go to whenever she had problems. Sure, he wanted her to tell him everything, but Castle knew how much a girl, a teenager none the less, needed a strong female role model in her life.

"Awkward? Are you kidding? Dad, I knew that eventually you guys would date. It's about time too."

He smiled at that, relieved that his daughter felt the same way as he did. "Yeah, it is about time." He gave his daughter a big hug and let her go only when his cell phone started to ring. "Castle." He said into the phone. "Where at?...Really?...Yeah, I can be there. Oh and Beckett, good morning…Alright, see you soon." He hung up the phone and turned towards his daughter. "We have a murder. So I'll see you when I get home. Have fun at school, if that's even possible…" Alexis laughed as her dad trailed off going upstairs to get dressed.

* * *

Castle arrived at the crime scene almost twenty minutes later. He was surprised at first when Beckett had told him the location of the murder. Normally, murders never took place inside one of a college's law building. Not only that, but Columbia University happened to be one of the best colleges in the nation.

Columbia University was located near Broadway Street, one of the busiest streets in New York. For a murder to take place there, the killer had to be someone who was well planned. Castle began to walk towards the entrance. The scene was not pretty. There were many police men waiting outside of the hall in which the murder had taken place. Some of them not daring to take another step back into the building. Some groups were huddled around outside of the building, quietly talking to another, some whispering among themselves. He looked over to the side of the building.

Beckett had waited for him to arrive before going to check out the scene. She could tell from the atmosphere around her that she would not like what she was about to walk in to. She had just sent Ryan and Esposito to make some calls, seeing if they could find out the i.d. of the victim. She looked over at the crowd that was beginning to form outside the yellow caution tape and started to smile.

"Hey Castle." She said when he reached her.

"Hey." He said giving her a warm smile in return. "What do we have?" He asked, nodding toward the college.

"I haven't been in yet. Lanie's up there waiting for us."

He looked intently into her eyes, sensing the sadness. "It's not good is it?"

"It never is." She replied looking down.

She turned around to walk into the building. He followed her, gently placing his hand along the lower part of her back. She made no protest, realizing that she would need his comfort. Lanie had already told her the situation so that she would be prepared for what she was about to find herself surrounded by.

"Shit." Was all he heard Kate say as she carefully stepped into the room. She took in the scene around her. A girl, perhaps not a college student for she looked almost the same age as Beckett, was lying on the floor, lifeless. She had brown hair and from the looks of it, it looked like she had been shot in the head. "Lanie, is this what I think it is?" She asked looking over towards her friend who was examining the girl's body.

"I'll have to take the body down to the lab to perform an autopsy to know for sure. But it definitely looks like a match." She said looking up to meet her friend's eyes.

"A match? You've seen this before?" Castle asked following behind Kate as she went to examine the body more closely.

"He left you a note this time." Lanie told her, pulling up the piece of paper and handing Kate some gloves.

"This time?" Castle asked still confused at what was going on.

Kate opened the letter and read aloud,

"'_Dear Kate, I hope that you are prepared for the ride of your life. It's time to play a game. I am sure you are able to recognize the killing you have in front of you. Memorize it, for it will be seen again. I wish you and the detectives you are working with great luck. On a side note, wish that writer of yours that follows you around luck as well, but take note that in the real world, fiction will get you nowhere. I hope that you both will have great fun on accepting this thrilling adventure. _

_In their blood and from the gutter. _

_Sam's Creation.'"_

"Recognize? Kate, what the hell is going on?" Castle asked.

Kate folded up the note with a blank stare upon her face, and walked out of the building.

* * *

"Vic's name is Julia Rolling. She's thirty-five, single, no kids. Worked at the college as a secretary, just a simple job of answering phone calls." Esposito said as he read the charts him and Ryan had found. He nodded towards Kate allowing her to clue them in to the murder that had just occurred.

"There have been two other murders that were found last week. All three of them were killed the same way, two shots to the head. The gun used upon the first two was a .44 caliber pistol. I suspect the girl we found today was killed with the same weapon. In the 1970's there was a serial killer in New York known as the 'Son of Sam'. Apparently the killer we're following now is a copycat. He uses the same signature the former killer used, same weapon, and same type of victims: girls, middle-aged, brown hair." Kate stopped for a brief second taking in a deep breath.

"Do we have any leads?" Castle asked.

"No. Every murder is spot clean. He never leaves any prints. The only leads that we just now have started receiving is the note he left. So right now, we'll begin with that."

Beckett pulled the note that she had placed in a plastic bag out to be observed upon the table. Ryan and Esposito leaned in trying to gain any ounce of clues that they could as to whom the killer was. Kate wrote down the name "Son of Sam" on top of the murder board and began to place pictures of the victims up in order as to when they were killed. Each with the same weapon, each in the same way.

"Well first thing that pops out to me is the fact that he thinks this is a game. It means he's cocky, he's daring, almost wanting us to find him. He's doing it all just for the thrill. This also means that he's bound to slip up and make a mistake sooner or later." Ryan said as he quickly skimmed the note.

"It also looks like he's trying to reach you on a personal level, or plans to. He uses your first name, showing that he may know you some way or another. Is there anyone you know who would be capable of doing something like this?" Castle asked.

"I am a detective. I've arrested tons of people before, each who could easily have gotten out of prison and started doing something like this for payback. So sure, I know people who could do this." Kate replied pacing in front of the board.

"'Memorize it, for it will be seen again.' He plans to strike again, yet he gives no hint as to where or when." Esposito stated.

"We can't just keep guessing around. Ryan, Esposito run backgrounds on the vic, see if she talked to anyone unusual. See who she knew and see if any names pop out. Since she was a secretary, check the phone log, perhaps she received some threatening calls in the past twenty-four hours. Also, we need to schedule interviews with some of the staff, preferably the ones who were in the building around the time of the murder."

"Alright, boss." The two detectives replied simultaneously. They both grabbed their coats and started towards the elevator in search for connections.

Kate sat down in the chair in front of her desk. She took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves. This man reminded her of her mother's killer. She could only hope that they would be able to catch him before he began to kill yet another innocent bystander.

"Are you alright?" Castle asked taking his seat next to her.

"I face cases like this every day. Some psychopath just wanting attention and he thinks that killing's the way to do it. Normally we catch the guy. But some cases-"

"Like your mothers?" he asked hoping she would not close up.

"Yes." She replied after a long moment of silence. "Like my mothers. That guy's going to stay unpunished and he will think nothing of it."

"He'll think about it. He'll regret it even. And by him seeing you still staying strong and continuing to work on the force after what he's done to you…it'll break him. You may not see it now, but in time, he'll be caught. And when he's caught you'll be there and you'll be able to stare him square in the eye and be able to see him get the penalty he deserves. It may not happen now, hell, it may not even happen a year from now, but in time, the truth will come out. It always does." Castle moved closer to her placing his arm around her shoulders enveloping her into a gentle hug.

She leaned into him taking in every word he said, praying that he was right. Her vision became blurry and realized she was on the break of tears. She cleared her throat and straightened up, causing Castle's arm to fall down from her shoulders. She moved away trying to gain composure, trying to hold her shield, her emotions, and feelings from the world around her.

"It's ok to let out your emotions once in a while, Kate. It doesn't make you weaker, if that's what you're afraid of." Castle said trying to catch her eye.

"Yeah, well maybe I'm just not ready to go down that road yet." She said still looking away from him.

There it was. She had brought up her wall. For a second she was open and the next she had closed down. Castle decided to leave it alone, not daring to cause her to shut down completely. "Come on, let's go home." He said rising to take her hand.

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**Reviews are greatly appreciated :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**1) I must say that this chapter is why the story has been rated M...the whole chapter is smut, so if you don't like that kind of stuff, then don't read it, it's as simple as that :)**

**2) I was going to include the poker game in this chapter but decided you guys would probably want a sex scene instead, so this is for you guys :) **

**3) I am going to Italy (yay!) on Wed. so I probably wont be updating for a week sorry :( So just keep me in your prayers that everything over there goes well, thanks :)**

**4) One more thing, I dont think this sex scene is as good as the one in 'The Night Over' :( but just let me know what you think about it because I plan for another one sometime SOON :)**

**5) Hope you enjoy the story! Please review! :)**

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Night Falls: Chapter 2

Castle watched Beckett as she began to arrange the food that was set out on the counter. Tonight was Castle's poker night and the captain and boys were coming over for a little get together match. Castle and Beckett's relationship was still new so not much had changed from work and their private life. They both agreed to take things slow, not wanting to mess things up.

"It's just a game with the boys Kate, it doesn't have to be perfect." Castle said watching as she aligned up every bowl in a specific order.

"I know. I just want it to look neat." She said smiling.

He walked towards her wrapping his arms around her thin body. "I'm sure that whatever you decide to do, it will look perfect nonetheless." She leaned back into his embrace taking in the warmth he offered her. He gently turned her around and began to caress the side of her cheek. She looked up to meet his eyes and saw a hint of passion buried deep inside of them along with a loving tenderness. He lowered his head down until their lips met.

His kiss was tender, almost as if testing to see if she'd pull away. He moved forward, trapping her between the kitchen counter and his body. He deepened the kiss using tongue and teeth. She reacted almost instantly to the impact he was using and began to struggle with the buttons on his shirt. He trailed his lips down to her jaw line and moved along until he reached the smoothness of her skin on her neck. He planted light kisses here and there. She left out a soft moan that messed with his brain till he was no longer able to think straight.

She moved her hands up and down his chest; her hands were too shaky to undo every button. She couldn't wait any longer and threw his shirt off his shoulders, almost laughing when she heard the bounce of buttons all over the kitchen floor. She moved her hands over all of the exposed skin, not missing a spot. Just when she moved her hands down to the hem of his pants she felt herself being hoisted up onto the counter. She didn't object but moved her mouth to his to be overcome by another fiery kiss.

Castle had just finished unbuttoning her blouse and was beginning to make his way towards unfastening her bra. He moved his mouth to the tops of her breasts planting a trail of kisses along the way. He decided to have his fun with her and even though the kitchen counter may not have been the smartest place to make love, he was too clouded to move her anywhere else. He had hoisted her up for better access to her breasts, which proved to be accurate. He heard her let out another small moan when his mouth engulfed one of her breasts.

Kate felt exceptional; no longer did she feel like herself anymore. She leaned her head back when he began to suck on her breast. She could no longer think, no longer could she keep a straight head. Her emotions began to take over her and she began to feel the full effect that his body had upon hers.

"Oh my God, Rick…" She gasped out when he moved his mouth to her other breast, continuing the same pattern as before. He began to unzip her pants. She leaned up helping him so he would not have to struggle with them. He hoisted her up carrying her to what he intended to have been towards the couch but ended up bumping her back into the wall instead.

Not caring where she was at the moment she placed her hands where they had been before, on the tops of his pants.

Realizing what she wanted he began to unzip his pants. "Goddamn jeans." He said, struggling to get out of them.

She began to laugh at him as she watched him struggle to get undressed. His erection was clearly showing and proved to be the cause of half of the struggle. When he had finally thrown his pants to the floor he made himself busy by kissing her again. She moved her hands down his body and only stopped when she reached the spot to make him go wild. She took him in her hand and began to have her fun with him.

He placed his hands above her on the wall trying to steady himself as her hands moved freely over him. She moved down taking the full length of him in her mouth and began to move at a tremendous pace. He felt his breathe shorten and his heart beat faster.

"Kate…" He breathed out hoarsely. She stopped, realizing that he would not be able to take much more and moved back up to kiss him.

He took both her wrists in one hand and placed them above her head. He was now back in control and was ready to make her feel things beyond her wildest dreams. He started by removing her panties and throwing them carelessly onto the floor. He placed himself directly underneath her opening and stopped. She opened her eyes staring directly at him waiting for him to enter her. She tried to move down on top of him to close the gap but was forced to remain where she was because of the bondage in which he held her wrists. She began to glare at him realizing that he was trying to tease her and make her want him even more.

"Castle…" she said between clenched teeth. He smiled, knowing exactly what she wanted but withholding it from her for as long as he could. He kept himself busy by slowly tracing his tongue along her breasts. He moved to her down her body stopping just below her stomach. He nipped at her, leaving small marks wherever he went. Finally, when he couldn't withstand anymore, he entered her, slowly at first, enjoying the heat around him. She moaned and whispered his name making him pick up pace. "Jesus, Rick!" Kate cried out reaching her breaking point; that was the last thing he heard before he himself reached the point of pure ecstasy. They both fell to the ground too weak to make any movement.

It took a while before Castle regained his strength and was the first one to speak, "Oh my God." He said it shakily, still trying to find the strength to talk.

"That was…"Kate said and trailed off at a loss for words.

"Amazing? Splendid? Incredible? Magnificent?" he asked smiling and looking at her. They were both still lying in the kitchen, not minding the hardwood floor.

She leaned her head onto her his chest and raised her head to look into his eyes, "No. It was much better than that."

They both shared a smile. "So this is taking it slow, huh?" Castle asked as he began to stand up now focusing all of his energy on the stability of the strength in his legs.

"If you want to back up and not have sex anymore that's fine with me." She said, knowing that deep down it wasn't, but she knew Castle well enough to know what he was going to say.

"No, no, no. Having sex is definitely fine with me. I just wanted to make sure that you're ok with it." He said as concern began to fill his eyes.

She looked at him, taking in the site of his body as well as his charming looks. "It's fine. I would tell you if it wasn't."

"Ok, good." Castle said then paused, "The boys and captain will be here soon. I should probably get another shirt and add this one," he said reaching to pick his shirt off the floor, "to the pile of shirts you've ripped before. You know, pretty soon you're going to have to repay me."

"I'm sure I can think of something to make it up to you." She said smiling as he helped her to her feet.

He kissing her again, not bothering to be gentle.

"Castle, they're going to be here soon." She said in between his kisses.

Just then there was a knock at the door.

"Coming!" Kate called out.

"Poor choice of words." Castle laughed and picked her up. She wrapped his legs around his waist.

"I'll make it up to you later tonight, I promise." She said giving him one last squeeze making him hard in just seconds.

"You're cruel." He said as she let go of him and unwound herself from him. "You should probably go get dressed, detective. You left some of your clothes here the day before, they're still in my room. And as much as I love the way you look naked, I would appreciate it if you left the sight of your gorgeous body for my eyes only."

"What's the matter, Castle? Not into threesomes?" She smiled, baiting him.

"We'll talk about it." He said, smiling when she rolled her eyes. She quickly kissed him and went upstairs to get her clothes.

He quickly straightened up the kitchen, grabbing their clothes as he went. There was another knock at the door. "I'm coming, I'm coming." He quickly put his clothes back on, grabbing a t-shirt he had lying around in the living room. He checked himself in the mirror, making sure he looked half way decent before opening the door to greet his guests.


	3. Chapter 3

**Not really much to say about this chapter, hope you enjoy it :)**

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Night Falls: Chapter 3

Castle opened the door to find Ryan, Esposito, and the Captain all snickering to one another. Castle looked at them, puzzled.

"It's about time." Ryan said walking inside. Esposito and the Captain followed him, nodding in agreement.

"Where's Beckett?" Esposito asked.

"She's…getting ready." Castle said hoping his smile wouldn't give away what had just happened.

"Hmm…why would she have to get ready?" Ryan asked, pushing a little farther. They both loved teasing Castle about Beckett.

Captain Montgomery stood watching his detectives grill the author on the whereabouts of Kate. Truth was, he thought, it was entertaining to watch Castle at a loss for words. After all, it didn't happen very often.

"I don't know, maybe she wanted to look nice. Put on make-up, brush her hair, change her clothes."

They both smiled at the last suggestion he had made. They were trained detectives for heaven sake. They knew what had happened, or at least suspected it.

"What?" Castle asked trying to act as innocent as possible.

"Got any food?" Esposito asked out of the blue.

Castle looked at him suspiciously, wondering what he was up to. He found nothing to suggest the otherwise, "Sure…right this way." He said leading them to the kitchen.

The kitchen looked fairly neat, Ryan and Esposito both noted. Some of the bowls had been pushed to one side of the counter, which caught both of the detectives' attention. But other than that, everything seemed to be in place.

"Plates are in the second cabinet to the right and you guys want a beer?" Castle asked peering back from the open refrigerator that was before him.

"Fine with me." Captain Montgomery said; Ryan and Esposito nodded in agreement before returning to their "detective work".

"Bro." Esposito whispered, getting Ryan's attention. Ryan focused on the location that Esposito was hinting towards. There it was: the evidence they were both searching for. God, were they ever going to have a blast teasing Castle about this.

They looked at each other with wide grins spread across their faces. Esposito was the first to speak, "Yo, Castle!"

Castle looked back with five beer bottles in his arms. "Yeah?"

"What exactly is…this doing on the floor?" Ryan asked holding up the button both he and Esposito had just found.

"It looks like it was just thrown carelessly over here, almost as if it just popped off." Esposito chimed in.

"And look." Ryan said walking just a short distance from where his first piece of evidence was found. "Here's another one."

"It also looks like it was thrown carelessly. You don't look like you've gained that much weight for it to just pop off by itself." Esposito said, enjoying the annoying look on Castle's face.

Shit, Castle thought to himself. They had found not only one, but two buttons. How was he supposed to explain his shirt buttons that Kate had conveniently managed to pop right off in their little venture they had shared just seconds before their guests had arrived? He was screwed.

"I…umm…" Castle stuttered, trying to make up an excuse and fast.

Just then, Beckett entered the kitchen. Ryan and Esposito's grins widened even more, both ready to become extremely entertained. Captain Montgomery was very amused. He watched Beckett's eyes travel to Castle, then to the object Ryan was still holding in his hand, then back to Castle. At first Beckett's eyes seemed friendly, but the second time she had looked at Castle confusion was beginning to take over.

"Hey guys…" She said cautiously. "What's going on?"

"We just found something on the floor and asked Castle how it got there. You wouldn't happen to know how this got on the floor, do you?" Ryan asked with his smile still in place.

Kate held a blank stare as she looked Ryan in the eyes. "No clue."

"Or this?" Ryan asked pointing to the other button that was located in the same proximity.

"And it's pretty obvious that both of these buttons came from one of Castle's shirts." Esposito added. They were having too much fun with this.

"Alright, fine." Kate said letting out an exasperated sigh. "Go ahead Castle, tell them the truth."

Castle looked at her, disbelieving. Surely she didn't want her to tell them about…"The truth, truth?" He asked completely confused.

"Well if you won't then I will." She said.

Ryan and Esposito's stares were huge. They didn't expect her break that easily. They weren't even half way done having some fun with them. Quite truthfully, they were a little disappointed.

"I bought Castle a shirt the other day and the buttons popped off and now thanks to you guys, he knows. I was trying to keep it a secret."

Castle looked at Beckett, realizing what was going on. "Oh, it's ok. I have plenty of shirts…except now that you mentioned it, I do seem to be running short of them." He said smiling at her; she rolled her eyes knowing what he was hinting at.

"Well then maybe you should go buy some more." She said as a matter-of-factly.

"We don't buy it." Ryan said, interrupting the discussion they were having.

"What do you mean 'you don't buy it'?" Kate asked them.

"We think you were doing something else." Esposito added along to his partner's comment.

Castle and Beckett both tried to look confused.

"Yup, quickie." Ryan said please with his conclusion.

"Definitely, bro. Definitely." Esposito agreed.

They both went to put food on their plates and then headed out of the kitchen to the poker table.

Captain Montgomery simply laughed at Beckett's and Castle's faces. He too followed the same notion Ryan and Esposito had, but before walking out said, "They got you there."

Obviously they're cover-up story did not work so well. Castle looked over at her, giving her a weak smile, trying to let her know that everything was ok.

"Better them find out now rather than later." Castle said, hoping she wasn't mad.

"Better if they didn't find out at all." She replied.

"Why don't you want anyone to know we're dating?" Castle asked after a moment, curiosity getting the best of him.

"I don't care if people know that. But I do mind if people know about our sex life. Not that I'm ashamed of you or anything…" She said giving him a smile.

He laughed. "I know plenty of women who would love to show me off to their cop buddies."

Kate rolled her eyes, "Then maybe you should be dating one of them."

"Nah, I think I'll stick with this one." He said walking over to give her a kiss.

She smiled up at him. "Come on Castle, I'm ready to kick your ass in poker."

"Should I bend over now or later?" He asked making her roll her eyes once more. He followed her to the poker table where the other detectives were waiting.

* * *

Two hours had passed. There were still five people sitting around the poker table; each had their poker faces on. Stacks of poker chips were located beside each person, Castle's was noticeably larger, no surprise there. There were four cards out on the table already: an eight, ten, and two queens.

"So Castle." Esposito said throwing a chip into the middle of the table; raising the bet. "You planning to write Nikki Heat books for the rest of your life?"

"Well I have a three book deal as of now." He replied, matching the raise. "So we'll see where it goes. You never know; they could want more."

"Let's hope not. I fold." Beckett said putting down her cards.

"Not into the whole Nikki Heat portrayal?" Captain Montgomery asked, smiling. "I fold." He threw his cards down on the table as well.

"Not particularly, sir." She replied.

"Turn your cards over." Ryan announced, turning over the river card which was a two. "I have two pairs; ten's and queens."

"Beat me. I only had the pair of queens that's out on the table." Esposito said, throwing down his worthless cards in defeat.

"That's a really good hand." Castle said motioning towards Ryan's cards. "But it's not as good a full house: three queen's and pair of eight's." He said laying his eight and queen down. "Come to daddy!" He began to pick up all the poker chips in the middle of the table, placing each one with great care in a particular order next to him.

"Damnit Castle!" Ryan said out of frustration. "Now I'm almost out of chips."

"Not my fault. Should've folded." He laughed, "Ante up."

They all threw a chip in the middle while Kate dealt the cards. They were all laughing and having a good time when they heard the front door open. Martha and Alexis both walked in with bags hanging off their arms.

"Hey pumpkin." Castle said as Alexis came up to give him a kiss on the cheek.

"Hey dad."

"You remember Ryan, Esposito, and Captain Montgomery, don't you?" he asked her.

"Of course. Hello." She said, smiling at each. They exchanged greetings with one another. Her eyes settled on Kate. "Hi, Kate."

"Hey Alexis." Kate replied smiling back at the vibrant teenager. "Did you guys have fun?" she asked motioning towards Martha.

"Darling, whenever anyone's around me, you're bound to have fun." Martha said walking towards them in her theatrical voice.

"I see you bought some things." Castle said, looking at all the bags they were carrying. "And with my credit card nonetheless."

"Don't blame me, all of its Gram's." Alexis told him, holding her hands up in a surrender position.

"And I suppose you used my credit card?" Castle asked turning to face his mother.

"Well of course I did. You don't expect me to just let it lie there; it has a purpose you know." She said brushing him off with a wave of her hand.

"Well, isn't that a great example to set for Alexis." He told her.

"As if you have a right to talk." She shot back. They both smiled. "Anyways, not all of its mine. Here Kate." Martha said holding out a bag. "We found something that reminded us of you."

Kate took the bag both shocked and humbled by their consideration for her.

"Oh, it's beautiful!" she said pulling out the shirt they had gotten her.

Alexis' face lightened up even brighter at the detectives comment. She smiled, "I'm glad you like it Kate. Now if you will excuse me, I have some studying that I need to catch up on." She bounded up the stairs as if on a sugar high.

"We knew you would like it. We also thought Richard would have fun trying to get you out of it."

"Mother!" Castle snapped back at her.

"Oh please, honey. It's not like everyone here doesn't know that you two are a couple now." Martha said.

Kate looked down in fear of the embarrassment that was creeping up on her face would be shown. All of the detectives were looking at her and Castle trying to read both of their faces. Castle looked at Kate wondering what she was thinking and realized that with her head down she was completely mortified.

"Well, didn't they?" Martha asked when no one spoke. She looked at Kate, then back at her son.

"Not exactly." Castle said half to himself and half to her.

"We all expected it though." Captain Montgomery said.

"Yeah, especially with what we found in the kitchen earlier." Ryan added, receiving a death stare from Beckett.

"The kitchen?" Martha asked confused.

"Mother we're in the middle of a game here." Castle said before anyone else had the chance to talk or explain for that matter. "Could you…"

"Leave?" She finished for him.

"Yes." He simply replied.

"How do you know that the other's are not enjoying my company?" Castle just looked at her. "Oh, alright." Martha smiled, told everyone bye at the table, then went upstairs to her own room. They heard her singing minutes later.

Castle turned his attention back to the game.

"Actually Castle, we have to get going." Esposito said.

"Yeah. Have to get up early tomorrow for work." Ryan added looking at the captain.

"Don't look at me. I have to get up just as early as you do." He told both of them. "Thanks for the game Castle. Can't wait for the next one."

"Same here, bro. Bye." Esposito said leaving the table and heading towards the door.

"See ya." Ryan said and followed his partner out.

After everyone left, Castle turned his attention to Beckett. "You can stay tonight if you want." Castle said moving close to her and wrapping her in his arms.

She moved her mouth up to his, lingering there, "I don't uh…" She tried to think clearly, "I don't think that would be appropriate seeing that Alexis and Martha are both here."

"They don't mind." He said teasing her, moving his mouth closer to hers.

"Maybe another night Castle." She said with her eyes almost closed.

He kissed her, softly at first. She smelt of cherries and the scent was arousing him. His hands began to roam freely around her, sneaking under her shirt to touch her warm skin. He moved his mouth down to her neck; he heard her moan his name, which only awakened his senses even more. He moved back to her lips one last time, kissing her long and hard then he moved back reluctantly.

Kate was the first to talk, "See you tomorrow?"

"Bright and early." He replied smiling down at her.

She kissed him quickly and laughed, heading towards the door. Before she left she threw him back a smile. God, he was almost in love with this woman and she didn't even know it yet, Castle thought to himself as he headed upstairs intent on going to bed so he could wake up bright and early tomorrow.

* * *

**I am a big fan of reviews :)**

**You can follow me on twitter if you like: /clcummins12**


	4. Chapter 4

**Ok so here's some good news! I am finally finished with "You Owe Me" and "Summer Vacation" so now, all my time and energy can be put into "Night Falls". That means, updates will be coming faster so pay attention and review! =) **

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Night Falls: Chapter 4

The next morning a refreshed Detective Kate Beckett walked through the precinct elevators. She had a cup of coffee in one hand, the other dangling at her other side. Following alongside her was her newly found-out boyfriend, Richard Castle, holding another cup of coffee and a small bag in his other hand.

As soon as they walked in, Kate had noticed all the stares that apparently Rick was oblivious to. She looked around hesitantly at first then continued walking.

"All I'm saying is that if you're going to have a muffin, why make it plain? No taste at all, it's just like eating bread. Now blueberry, that's a good flavor." Castle was telling her as he set his coffee down on his side of her desk and moved behind her to pull out her chair.

A loud, "Aww" escaped through some of the cops lips, mostly female, that were watching how the two reacted towards one another.

Beckett looked around at everyone in the precinct and saw exciting eyes looking right back. She raised her eyebrow when her gaze landed on Ryan and Esposito. "Really, guys?" They both had satisfied grins plastered on their faces.

"We thought it'd be nice if everyone finally knew the truth." Esposito told her.

"And as you can see, I finally won my cash winnings." Ryan added holding up some dollar bills that had been tied together with a rubber band.

"Really mature." Castle piped in. "And is it just me or aren't you supposed to save the 'Aww' moments for when we do something new? Like kiss or hold hands?" Kate looked up at him and playfully elbowed him in the ribs. He smiled down at her, "I'm just saying that I always pulled out your chair before."

"Yes, but now that you're dating, it's so much cuter." The captain said walking by them.

Kate stared at him with disbelief while Castle smirked. "Alright everyone, now that you've had your fun," he looked specifically at Ryan and Esposito, "time to get back to work. Castle, can I see you in my office?" he said not waiting for an answer and turned to walk back towards his office.

Castle raised his eyebrow at Kate and gave her a confused look. She just shrugged-telling him she had no idea what the captain wanted.

Once the door to the captain's office had closed, Ryan and Esposito walked over to Kate's desk.

"So this is it, huh?" Esposito asked her.

"This is what?" She asked reaching into the bag Castle had placed on her desk and pulled out two muffins.

"You know, the grilling from the captain." Ryan explained. "The whole 'Kate is like a daughter to me and if you hurt her, I'll kill you' speech."

"And what has you convinced that that's what he's talking to Castle about?" Kate asked looking up at them.

"We're trained detectives." She raised her eyebrow at Esposito. "Well first off, you're not in there with them and two, Captain gave you a look before he hollered for Castle." Esposito waited a beat and looked back towards the closed door. "You just wait, your boy will be shaking when he comes out of there."

"You mean if he comes out of there." Ryan told him looking in the same direction as his partner. Minutes passed as all three detectives looked at the door, a look of horror upon each face. "You are gonna get him out of there, aren't you?" Ryan asked as he turned back to look at Beckett.

"I think I'll let him squirm a bit longer." Kate said, a smile now showing through on her face. "You boys haven't talked to him yet, have you?"

"We're saving that for later." Esposito told her, smiling.

"Well, Castle was right about one thing." Kate told them.

"What's that?" they both asked her.

"Blueberry does taste better." She said taking a bite into Castle's muffin.

* * *

"You understand why I asked you to come in here, don't you?" Captain Montgomery asked going to sit in his chair behind his desk.

"No sir. I'm afraid I don't-"

"I know I was all fun and games last night at your house when I first found out."

"Found out?" Castle asked him.

"About you and Kate." He watched as the confusion on Castle's face stayed where it was. "You guys dating." He clarified.

"Oh, ok. I thought you guys had probably already figured it out." Castle told him.

"We had our suspicions." The captain said thinking back to what Ryan and Esposito had told him just days earlier. He shook his head, coming back to the present, and leaned over his desk. "Let me tell you something about Katherine Beckett. She has been working on this force for God knows how long and we all know how strong she is when it comes to the job. But on an emotional level, that's completely different. You have the power to break her and if I hear that-"

"I'm not going to hurt her, sir." Castle said, honesty shining through his blue eyes. "It may have taken us both a long time to get at the point we are at today and even though it was not easy getting here and we were both hurt along the way, it's shown me how much I truly do care for her and for her wellbeing."

"I know you do. I can see that you both care about each other very much and that you have for a very long time now. All I'm saying is that Kate feels almost like a daughter to me and so my protective instincts keep kicking in. But let me tell you, if you guys break up or she gets hurt, you're going to have a full police force ready to kill you. And as you probably already know, having the law against you is not good at all. So if you have any doubts whatsoever, or plan to look at Beckett as just a fling, you might as well end it right now before you get too serious."

Castle moved uneasily in his chair before he spoke, "I can't guarantee that we're not going to ever fight or that we won't ever break up because in all relationships it happens; things happen. But what I can promise you is this: Kate never has been nor ever will be just a fling. I can't promise that we'll always be together." He repeated, "But from bottom of my heart I can honestly say that I hope we do. And I'm glad that we have taken as much time as we did to get to know one another because it shows me what a great person she truly is. So as of now, I have no guarantees on anything, but the one thing I do have is faith."

"And as of now that's all you need." The captain concluded, smiling.

There was a knock at the door and seconds later Kate poked her head through the cracked door. "I'm sorry to break up this meeting of purgatory but I'm gonna need Castle alive at least for another day-we just got a call about another murder."

"Fair enough." The captain said motioning towards the door Kate had just left from. "But Castle, you've been warned." He said making Castle stop in his tracks and register what had just been said.

Castle gulped. "I'm glad we had this meeting, sir." He said closing the door behind him then he hurried off to catch up with Kate.

"So do we really have a murder or were you just saying that to get me out of there?" he asked her once they got on the elevator.

She turned to face him, her face inches from his, "Now why would I do that? You know that I like to watch men squirm."

The elevator dinged and she walked out in front of him, head held high and small smile upon her face.

"Oh you just wait." He said under his breath and began to follow her once more.

* * *

They arrived upon the scene about thirty minutes later. The body was found in another college except this time in a very specific building. Rick walked behind Kate brushing his shoulders up against hers letting her know that he was there for support if she needed any. She turned and smiled up at him taking his hand briefly in hers and giving it a warm squeeze.

"Two shots to the head. Same M.O. as the last vic we found. Vic was found in the building where the college holds their regular chess tournaments." Esposito walked towards them reading the report.

"Alright, is there a specific reason for that?" She asked.

"Don't know. Lanie's in there with the body right now. Maybe she found something."

"Alright, thanks." She said and walked into the building as Esposito went to talk to some fellow officers off to the side.

"Hey Lanie." Kate said approaching the M.E. that was still squatted next to the dead body on the ground.

"Hey girl. Castle." She said noticing Kate's shadow; Castle waved back. "Female whose age is probably around the same as the last vic. Same M.O. as the last vic as well-two shots to the head. Gun was the same-.44 caliber."

"Do you have an i.d. on her yet?" Kate asked her friend.

"Not yet. I need to take her down to the morgue, run a couple of tests and then I'll give you a call."

"Alright, sounds good." Kate said bending down next to her friend, searching for any clues on the body. "Looks like some light bruising around her arms and wrist."

"Signs of a struggle. It shows that the shot was not from a faraway distance." Lanie told her pointing to each of the bruisings.

Castle went to walk around the room, noticing the different tables with chess boards set up on each one. "Looks like this one's been moved." He said walking over to one of the tables that was askew with the other ones.

"We think that the killer probably murdered the body elsewhere and then brought her in here." Lanie told him.

"How can you sneak a body into a college without anyone seeing?" Kate asked.

"I don't know. Maybe he had help?" Lanie suggested.

"But normally his kinds are the ones who like to work alone, it leaves them with gaining more satisfaction once the murder is complete." Kate thought for a moment, "And what's so important about a chess tournament building? There has to be some significance there."

"Whoa, check this out." Castle said from across the room.

Kate walked over to where he was standing. Her eyes became huge when she noticed the note that was written on the wall, apparently in blood.

She read it aloud,

_"'Dear Rook,_

_Ready to play a game of chess yourself? Here's my first move; now it's your turn. Have fun and I wish you the best._

_In their blood and from the gutter._

_Sam's Creation._

_P.S. 'Chess is ruthless, you've got to be prepared to kill.'"_

"Rook? So he's delusional?" Castle asked Kate after a minute of silence.

"Maybe he's using it to stand for something."

"Yeah, my name." He said looking back at the note. "He keeps mentioning chess. Rook is a castle in a chess piece. So what's he getting at?"

"I don't know." Kate said reading over the note once more before turning around. "Lanie, call me when you get the results." She said walking out of the building. "Oh and one more thing," She stopped at the door, "Does the vic still have her blood?"

"Blood? As in inside of her? Yeah. Although some has leaked out of the bullet wound onto the floor."

"Can you get CSU to test the blood found on the wall. It may give us a clue as to if he's killed someone else or not."

"Will do." Lanie replied jotting down more notes on the notepad she held.

Kate walked outside into the cool, fresh breeze of New York.

"Where are we going?" Castle asked following behind her.

"Where I always go to do my best thinking-the precinct." Kate replied and they both walked, each silently wondering what move the killer would make next in this chess game of theirs.

* * *

**Not much to say except that I can't wait to see where this story takes me! **

**I basically have all the chapters planned out, but as all writers know, changes can occur in seconds. Just keep reviewing and I'll post as soon as possible!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Alright, so I really like this chapter which in a way, makes me nervous...but I'll let you be the judge.**

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Night Falls: Chapter 5

They had worked into the late hours that night until Kate had finally decided to get some sleep and start refreshed the next day.

Castle could tell that the case was bothering her. She would try to act as if everything was fine when she was around Martha and Alexis, but he knew her too well. He was the one who saw her flinch in the middle of the night; the one who she would reach out and grab on to whenever she began to have nightmares. They never talked about them though and he realized that she was probably not willing to talk about them. So he didn't pry, not yet anyway.

He woke up that morning with his arm clutching her naked body to his, both surrounded and comforted by each other's warmth. They had been up most of the night with hot, arousing sex and so he was glad of the fact that they had both slept in. The sun was beginning to shine clearly now through the windows. In fact, if he remembered correctly, he was almost sure that the alarm clock had been conveniently knocked off during their foreplay routine.

He felt Kate shift slightly beside him, rolling over and burying her face into his chest. He smiled down at her wondering how the hell he'd been lucky enough to get a woman like her.

He saw her lightly open her eyes as she began to stroke a circular pattern on his chest.

"Good morning." He whispered to her, bending his head down to receive a kiss.

"Morning." She replied, still half asleep. "What time is it?"

"I'm not really sure. I think you broke my clock last night." He added as he leaned up and looked over her at the alarm clock that was now located on the floor; the front of the black screen was now cracked. "Yup, definitely broken. First my shirts; now my clocks. You get wild at night, detective. Especially on nights when we have to stay late working at the precinct." Then he added with a grin, "We should stay late more often."

She laughed slowly leaning in for another kiss as she ran her hand down his body. She stopped inches from his mouth, "You didn't seem to mind me breaking it last night." She grasped him in her hand, teasing him and sending thrills of pleasure throughout his whole body. "Besides, I have a feeling we'll be staying late again tonight."

She smiled wickedly at him as she released him and got up to go get dressed, closing the bathroom door behind her.

He heard the shower turn on. He got up and decided to take his chances to see just how lucky he could get and with that, he shut the bathroom door behind him.

* * *

Pictures were scattered all over the table. Captain Montgomery had received a personal call from the mayor who said that he wanted this killer caught as soon as possible. This meant that the team had been upgraded for the time being. They now had a room all to themselves to work in so they wouldn't be distracted by the outside noise. They were now on hour six with that non-outside noise.

Kate ran her eyes over the photos before her. Somehow this case had to make sense and she was determined to find out how.

"The second note seems kinda…rushed." Ryan said looking at the photo of the blood writing on the wall.

"Well seeing that he had somehow gotten the body all the way into the college without being seen, I can see why he didn't want to take his time." Castle pointed out.

"'Chess is ruthless, you've got to be prepared to kill.'" Kate read the quote at the bottom of the note. "Subliminal message?"

"He's playing a game, he thinks in order for him to win he has to kill?" Castle asked as the thoughts rolled through his head.

"But how does that help us find the killer?" Esposito asked. "It's not a clue as to where or who he'll strike next."

"Whom." Castle corrected, reading the note over once more. "He used Rook. Another obsessed Nikki Heat fan?"

"No, not this time. Because look at the first note." She pulled it out from under the file then pointed to the heading, "He uses my first name, 'Kate'." She thought for a moment.

"Then why not just use 'Rick'? Why did he decide to change mine?" He asked her.

"I don't know." She said tossing the picture aside. "We've been at this for almost seven hours and still, we're nowhere." Her phone went off, causing her to let out a heavy sigh as she checked the caller i.d. "Beckett." She listened intently to the voice on the phone. "Alright, be right there." She hung up. "That was Lanie, she said they have the i.d. of the vic." She said walking towards the door as Castle opened it for her. "See you later, boys."

* * *

"Vic's name is Stephanie Simmons. The bruises do turn out to be signs of struggle and by the size it was definitely a man." Lanie told her as Kate bent down to get a closer look at the body.

"Is there anything else you can tell us?" Kate asked realizing that the more information she got the better.

"Tox screen came back negative. Oh and the lady was a banker, if that helps any." Lanie said then handed the file over to Beckett.

Beckett's eyes skimmed over the file as Castle stood behind her and did the same.

"Blood tests came back." One of the morgue assistants came in and handed the file to Lanie.

"Blood doesn't seem to be the same as the vic's." Lanie told them after a few minutes.

"Do you know whose it is?" Beckett asked.

"No. It didn't match any of the four victims."

"So he's murdered someone else." Castle stated.

"And he's just waiting until the opportune moment to drop the body." Kate said out of disgust. "I wonder what random location he'll choose this time." She said to herself.

"Wait. Say that again." Castle said, keenly interested.

"He's just waiting until the opportune moment to drop the body." Kate repeated.

"No, after that."

"I wonder what random location he'll choose this time?" She said confused at what he was getting, so she asked, "Castle, what are you getting at?"

"The guy's a Son of Sam copycat, yes?" Kate nodded. "We need to go back up; I need to look over the notes." He said it in such a hurry that Kate almost had time to realize that he was leaving the morgue and heading straight for the elevators. She gave Lanie a shrug and followed him out.

"Castle! What the hell just happened?" She asked, trying to catch her breath as she stepped on the elevator with him.

"I didn't see it, but now…it makes sense, if I'm right." He said to her as well as himself. She could tell that he was hot on the trail for something by the sparkle that now held in his blue eyes.

"Care to share with the class?" She asked him getting excited as well.

"I will, I will. I just, I need the notes to check something first." He said, then rushed towards the room they had been working in earlier once the elevator doors had opened.

"What the-" Kate heard Ryan voice to Esposito who was on the phone.

Esposito shrugged, "Thanks dude. Yeah, I'll call you back."

They all reached the enclosed room and saw Castle hastily reading through the notes they had.

"Dude, what the hell?" Esposito asked him. Castle didn't reply so Esposito turned to look at Ryan and Kate. They all gave each other a confused look.

"What were the locations of the other murders?" Castle asked minutes later, sorting through the papers. They all turned to look at him. He quoted what Beckett had said earlier, "'Random location he'll use this time'." He paused seeing if they caught on and could tell by their confused expressions he would have to explain more. "Ok, go with me on this. Normally serial killers, or copycats, will do everything the same yet they leave one thing that is special to them, that defines who they are as an individual. He obviously uses the same weapon, preys on the same victims, well what about the locations? I'm guessing they're not the same ones that the real Son of Sam used? Perhaps they have a special significance to him and will give us a clue as to where he'll strike next."

"Castle's right. The real Son of Sam mostly shot people out on the street, not in buildings or confined areas." She searched through her notes as well, pulling out a sheet of paper. "First vic was found at a house in Astoria Boulevard. The second victim was found at one of the foster homes in Manhattan. The third at Columbia University and now the no longer Jane Doe was found in the chess building at New York University." She thought about it for a moment. "So what you're saying is that the locations played a main key to who the serial killer is."

"Maybe traumatic experiences in his life or maybe places that he enjoyed being at. Either way, our killer has been to each of those places and something has happened there." Castle said, "All of our victims so far have been killed somewhere else and the body brought there. There has to be a connection."

"Alright. Ryan, Esposito, I don't care what you do; I don't care how you do it, but please have a name or even a list of names of people who could match up to be our killer."

"We're on it boss." They told her, happy that they were finally getting somewhere.

"So the chess, the quote, it all has to mean something." Kate said thinking about what Castle had just told her.

"Why that building? Why Rook?" Castle said going off and thinking to himself.

"Hopefully Ryan and Esposito will have something for us to look into tomorrow." She said sitting down in one of the chairs. "Pretty clever with the whole locations trick." She told him, smiling.

"I would have never got it if it weren't for you." He told her and went to sit beside her. They looked at the murder board in front of them in silence.

He placed his hand gently on her leg. "As of now all we can do is wait. Why don't we go home, watch a movie, and if the boys get anything they can give us a call?"

"Alright." She said, smiling and taking his hand in hers. "As long as you promise no more star trek marathons." He nodding in agreement, both laughing on their way out.

* * *

Hours later they were both lying on the couch. Kate was snuggled in to Rick's side as his arm provided her with a pillow. They both watched the ending credits to "Catch Me If You Can", too lazy and comfortable to move.

Ryan and Esposito hadn't called, which Kate knew that they probably wouldn't find anything in just a day. They would have to run through many, many lists. So when Rick had suggested that they go home, she wasn't about to argue. In fact, she was glad for the release. An empty wine bottle was out on the table with two empty cups located beside it. Being off duty, Kate had allowed herself to indulge in alcohol, hoping it would ease her mind; it had.

Rick shifted slightly, grabbing the edge of the blanket and wrapping it firmly around him and Kate.

"Are you going to stay tonight?" He asked moving her hair off the side of her neck and placing light kisses there.

Kate thought about it. Alexis was still here, but she had come down once during the movie and didn't seem to mind that she and her dad were cuddled up on the couch. In fact, she thought she saw amusement in his daughter's eyes.

She turned toward him and kissed him lightly on the mouth. "I'd like that."

He deepened the kiss then, getting up and moving over her. Cupping her face in his hands, he gave her another passionate kiss then tilted her chin up for access to the front and side of her neck. He found the place where he could feel her pulse and felt it speed up as his mouth and tongue grazed over it.

"Rick." She said not as forceful as she had planned. "Rick." She tried again, this time getting his attention as he peered up at her.

"You're daughter's here, in her bedroom…right upstairs." She told him laughing when he bent down to continue his endeavors.

"So?" he said, then bit the exposed flesh located on her neck making her gasp.

"Ouch." She said laughing but hit his head playfully nonetheless. She felt his lips smile on her skin.

He stopped and looked up at her. "You're neck is going to be all red by tomorrow morning." He told her simply and smiled.

"No, it's not. Because your daughter is upstairs and can hear us." She told him grabbing his ear when he bent his head back down.

"Alright. Apples! Apples! Apples!" He said loudly.

They heard shuffling of feet on the floor above them. They both looked at each other eyes wide, but Rick made no sign of getting off of her anytime soon.

He grinned suspiciously at her and she cocked her eyebrow knowing that he had something up his sleeve.

"Oh my god, Kate. Ooo baby…" he started making loud enough noises for the women upstairs to hear, smiling while he said it.

Her eyes grew wide and she shushed him. "You're so immature." She told him but couldn't help the smile that spread across her face.

"And you love me for it." He said kissing her lips quickly. He got up off her then, holding out his hands for her. He pulled her up and wrapped her in a quick hug, placing a light kiss on her forehead. "Are you going to stay tonight?" he asked once more, his head resting on top of hers.

* * *

**So I kept debating on whether I should write more smut and really get into it or leave it like this. I chose this way. I want there to be sweet moments and just cute little scenes rather than the whole thing be one huge sex story. But yeah, there's gonna be more :p**

**Once again, Thanks to everyone's who's keeping up with this story, you guys are the best :D**

**P.S. I know that New York University probably does not have a "chess building", but I need it to go with the story, so I created it :D**


	6. Chapter 6

Night Falls: Chapter 6

Kate woke up that morning in a bed that wasn't her own. She stretched her arm over feeling for the second life that she would be sleeping right beside her. However, she was surprised to find out that she was now alone.

She almost panicked for a second thinking that something had happened. There was a serial killer out there, after all. Even if it was practically impossible to get into Castle's building-whoa, she thought to herself. She had to be reasonable.

She got up and began to get dressed. If Castle was kidnapped then the kidnapper would have had to sneak through the window and being as high up as they were-well, it was impossible, she thought to herself pulling on some sweat pants. He could have come through the door, somehow have a copy of the key made. No, that was crazy. She would have heard him and would have felt the bed move when Castle tried to fight back.

She stopped looking for a shirt and glanced back at the bed. Now that she thought about it, the bed sheets did look a little messy. He could have drugged Castle. Ok, now she was just being silly. But still…

She quickly grabbed the nearest shirt she could find-which happened to be one of his- and put it on while walking to the bedroom door.

She stopped halfway down the stairs when she heard laughter coming from the kitchen.

Her heart gave a sigh of relief as she recognized the voice that was now talking, "So let me get this straight, mother. You'd rather that Alexis stays home to help you with your play instead of going to school? What kind of role model are you?"

She heard the laughter in his voice, knowing that they were always teasing each other. She could almost see Martha wave her hand at him as she replied, "A lot better one than you, dear. And besides, it's one day. I'm sure she won't miss much."

"No, I think dad's right. It's much more important that I go to school."

Kate smiled. She could just stand there for hours listening to the Castle family converse with one another. It was almost like a comedy show every time the three of them were together. But what was even better was that she could feel the love they all had for one another. They were all very close and the way they had accepted her the instant she came into Rick's life-she felt honored in a way.

She made her way down the rest of the steps and turned the corner to go into the kitchen.

"Good morning, detective." Martha told her once she saw Kate.

"Kate!" Rick exclaimed turning around from the stove.

She almost burst out laughing when she saw what he was wearing. He had on a red and white striped apron. The colors reminded her of a candy cane. He had a spatula in one hand and a skillet in the other. From the substance in the pan and the smell throughout the kitchen she knew that he was making pancakes.

"My clothes look good on you." He stated, making her blush which, she was sure, was his intention.

She smiled, "Good morning." She looked around at everyone who was watching her with expectant eyes.

"Are you hungry?" Rick asked her turning around and placing the pan back onto the fire-red stove.

"Starving." She replied and took the empty seat next to Alexis. "Hey, Alexis." She greeted the teen. "Did you sleep good?"

Alexis smiled at the recognition. "Great! What about you?"

One thing that Beckett had always admired about Castle was how great of a father he was and the special bond that he and Alexis shared. She knew that Castle was always honest and open to his daughter. And why shouldn't he be? Alexis had proven to be wise above her years, hadn't she?

"Great. Except someone kept me up all night from snoring." She hinted at Rick, who smiled and played along.

"Au contraire, I believe it is you who does the heavy snoring." He smiled at her. "It's cute though, so don't worry." She rolled her eyes at him as he set a plate down in front of her. "So what's the plan for today?"

"We have interviews with some of the staff members, which means we need to leave soon." She said then took a bite out of one of the pancakes.

"Have you found any more clues as to who the killer is?" Alexis asked them.

"Well your father found something that could help us make a connection with the killer. I'm not sure if Ryan or Esposito have found anything yet, though."

"As it turns out I can be rather helpful when it comes to solving murders." Rick said giving them a satisfied smile.

"Can, being the key word. Normally he's too busy annoying me or making inappropriate comments." Kate told them.

Martha and Alexis laughed at that.

"You know I wouldn't blame you if you kicked him off your team." Martha told Kate.

"I think I'll keep him around for now." She said taking a sip of coffee and raising an eyebrow to Castle's smirk.

"I need to go get ready for school. I'll see you guys later?" Alexis asked looking at her dad and Kate.

"You know, why don't you let us take you to school? It'll be safer for you that way and it'll give us a chance to talk and catch up?" Kate suggested.

Castle smiled at the idea. He loved how Kate was trying to be a part of not only his life, but his daughter's as well. "That sounds like a great idea."

Alexis brightened up at the idea as well. "That'd be awesome! Be right down in a few."

"Speaking of getting ready, I need to do the same." Kate told them and excused herself following Alexis up the steps, laughing with her as she did so.

"You really like her, don't you?" Martha asked looking at the expression on her son's face.

"It's that noticeable, huh?" he said unable to stop smiling.

"Honey, it was noticeable even before you guys were dating. Now, it's just…I don't even know the word. It's just…there. Have you asked her to marry you yet?"

Castle was surprised by her question, especially since his mother knew the type of girl Beckett was. "And scare her off? No thanks."

"Just making sure. You didn't wait long for your other two wives, so being the curious woman that I am…"

"Kate's nothing like Gina or Meredith." Castle cut her off. "She's special to me and I don't want the thought of being tied down to someone for the rest of her life to scare her off."

"Whatever you say, kiddo. I can just tell by the way you two look at each other, well I'll let you two figure it out."

"Thank you." He told her and began to clean up.

Could he see himself married to Kate? God, yes. Would he ask her to marry him? Heavens, no. He knew that Kate was a 'one and done' type of girl. Not that he didn't doubt that she liked him as much as he did her, but they had hardly been dating long enough to even think of popping the question to her. No, when it came to Kate Beckett he was willing to wait and he wouldn't mind it either. Because when the time came, he wanted everything to be perfect.

"Ready?" He turned to see Kate and Alexis standing in the kitchen, both dressed.

"Just about." He said placing the skillet in the dishwasher and moving over towards the sink to wash his hands.

"Bye grams! Good luck on your play." Alexis said giving her grandmother a hug.

"Goodbye Martha." Kate said standing awkwardly while Alexis was still embraced in the hug.

"Oh get over here, you." She told Kate holding out her other arm to her. "You're just as much part of this family." She let go of them both. "Be safe and make sure to keep Richard out of trouble."

"Will do." Kate replied laughing as Castle struggled to take his apron off. "Here." She said going behind him and untied the back so he could take it off.

"Goodbye mother." He went around to give her a kiss on the cheek. "Break a leg." He told her before grabbing his and Kate's coat, helping her put it on. "Ready?" He asked both of the ladies and they both nodded in agreement.

He opened the door waving once more to his mother who just smiled and waved. Once outside he placed his arms around Kate and Alexis' neck walking in between them.

"So what do you say to skipping school and spending the day at the park?" He asked Alexis knowing exactly what her answer would be.

"No." She replied then smiled when he frowned at her. "Not fair. You know I have a test today so you can't play the guilt card."

"He knows that." Kate replied next to him. "And besides, I don't think he'd want to miss the interviews we have scheduled for today."

They arrived at the elevator and stepped on when the doors opened.

"That's true." Castle replied. "I love seeing Kate in her detective mode, chewing out guys who I would even hate to get in a fight with."

Kate and Alexis both laughed.

"Dad, the last time you were in a fight you could hardly move for a week." Alexis told him.

"True, but that guy was huge and his hands were as hard as rocks. Besides, I have to protect my hands, I am a writer after all."

"I'm pretty sure what you're thinking of is a surgeon." Kate told him.

"They're one in the same, really." Castle said making them both roll their eyes.

The elevator doors opened and they walked into the lobby. It seemed a bit more crowded as usual, but nothing out of the ordinary.

The walked outside, Castle's arms still around the two ladies at his side. Before they knew what was happening bright lights were flashing at them from every direction. Castle tried to use his body as a shield for Kate and Alexis, but it wasn't much use seeing the press had decided to make a circle around the three.

Next came the questions as reporters shot one after the other not paying attention to who was saying what.

"Richard Castle, is this the famous homicide detective that you've based Nikki Heat on?"

"How long have you two been an item?"

"Is it a serious relationship or just some sex with no strings attached?"

"Do you foresee a wedding anytime in the near future?"

"Alexis, are you and the detective close friends?"

"Is she anything like what we've read on the pages of Heat Wave?"

Rick pushed through the crowd of people adding a "No comment" here and there. Kate and Alexis knew quite well to not say anything to the press. They headed over to the car that Rick had called ahead of time. He opened the door for them making sure they were both safe inside and then got in as well, locking the door securely beside him.

"Do they not have anything else to do except to bug and annoy a family on a way out of their own house?" Alexis asked clearly annoyed.

Kate was still trying to overcome the shock of it all. Not that she hadn't experienced the press before, but she had never seen them as aggressive as they were just then. Not only that, but she was not expecting them to be waiting for them to walk out at all. She was still astounded that anybody could that callous.

"They're just doing their job." Rick said but annoyance was in his voice as well.

"But still. They shouldn't just sneak up on people like that." Alexis said defending her argument.

"I couldn't agree more." He told her.

The rest of the car ride was made by small talk between the three people. Kate was still not happy with the whole press situation but tried to not make things awkward between Rick and his daughter. Once they reached Alexis' school, Alexis said her goodbyes to Kate as they both exchanged a brief hug. Castle got out of the car to let his daughter out and gave her a hug as well before she gleefully walked up the steps to enter the building.

They drove off once more this time in the direction towards the precinct.

Castle reached over to take Kate's hand, "Sorry about that." He told her apologizing for the press. He knew that it had upset her and began to rub soothing circles on the back of her hand with his thumb.

She took a deep breath. "It's just not something I was expecting." She told him deciding to be honest with him.

"I know. I had no idea they were there either. If I did, we would have gone out the back." He told her looking over at her. He scooted over towards her and put his arm around her, leaning her against him, his chin resting on top of her head. "I'm sorry. I promise to make it up to you later, ok?" He kissed the top her head and leaned back to look at her face.

"What did you have mind?" She asked, smiling up towards him.

"How about some ice cream and movie night with Alexis tonight?" He asked seeing how Kate and his daughter were already closely bonded together.

"It sounds perfect." She said her smile widening as she leaned up to give him a kiss.

"And then once Alexis falls to sleep, I'll make it up to you even more." He told her making her eyebrow lift in response.

"Really, Castle? Is that all you think about?" She asked teasing him.

"Of course," He said kissing her once more. "Did you expect anything less?"

Before they knew it they were both getting out of the car and walking up to the precinct. Hand in hand, leaning close to one another, not giving a care in the world if anyone saw.

* * *

**First off, thank you BetweenTwoWorlds for suggesting that I change the ending, I like it MUCH more :) haha**

**I plan to get back into the case the next chapter :)**

**Alright, I'm done. Time to start writing again... :)****  
**


	7. Chapter 7

Night Falls: Chapter 7

When they walked into the precinct they were greeted with many smiles. People were happy that they were _finally _together; it had taken them over a year to realize that they both had feelings for each other after all. Feelings that were evident ever since they had both laid eyes on each other. So when they came walking in, hand in hand, body against body, nobody was going to complain. Besides, it was a lot easier to deal with catching bad guys and dead bodies when you were able to see some romance in the precinct, especially with it being their favorite detective and the famous author.

They walked into the break room as Castle made her some of his famous coffee that she loved so much. When they walked out; however, everyone could tell that things had changed and that it was time to get back to work.

Even though they were dating Kate had made it clear to Castle that work was going to stay the same as before. Castle agreed knowing that by showing affection at work could make them both lose their focus and they could get off track. That didn't mean that he was going to not tease her about it and not make sexual innuendos every chance he got. That was normal, after all.

"Ryan, Esposito did you guys get anything?" Kate asked walking over to her desk.

"Nope, we're still running through lists." Esposito told her.

"Alright, well let me know as soon as you find something."

"Will do." They both said and began to look at the computer screen they had been hiding behind once more.

Kate turned her attention back to the murder board. "We still have no leads. The best thing we can do is try to get something out of the interviews."

"You ready?" Castle asked her stepping up close behind her, giving her reassurance.

"Yeah." She told him looking over the small amount of evidence that was presented upon the board.

"Let's nail this bastard." He told her and gave her an affectionate smile when she turned around.

They turned to walk out of the precinct to talk to their first witness.

"Hello, I'm looking for a Mrs. Kantz," Beckett told the students at one of the tables in the lunch room at Columbia University.

"She's over at the big table on the far side." One of the students told her.

"With all the faculty members." Another one said pointing at it.

"Thank you." Kate said and made her way over to the table they had pointed out.

"Mrs. Kantz?" Kate asked stepping front of the table.

"Yes?" The woman on the far side of the table answered surprised as to why her name was being called.

"Mind if we ask you a few questions?" Beckett asked flashing her badge.

"Sure. No problem." The woman said gathering up her trash and stuffing them in a paper bag.

"May I ask what this is about?" asked when they had stepped into a deserted hallway.

"My name is Detective Kate Beckett and this is Richard Castle." She said introducing herself then motioning to the man behind her.

"The novelist?" the young woman asked still hesitant.

"The one and only." He told her giving her a reassuring smile.

"We just have some questions regarding the death of Ms. Rolling." Beckett explained and saw the lady cringe at the thought. "Mrs. Kantz."

"Maggie."

"Maggie," Kate paused for a second until the lady looked her in the eyes, "I know it's difficult when you lose someone close. But right now, I need your help so we can catch the killer and so that your friend can receive justice. Can you help me with that?"

Castle looked at Kate and even though he couldn't see her face he knew that compassion was showing through her eyes. Not just for the woman across from them but also because Kate was remembering her mother's death; how she had wanted justice and had done whatever she could to get that closure. That closure that was not yet reached.

Maggie nodded her head slightly as tears began to fill her eyes. "We were close; best friends you could say. Every morning before work we'd go get a coffee together and just talk about our lives. About the plans we had for the future. The day before they found her dead she had told me how she planned to move away and start a new life."

"Did she say why?" Kate asked taking out her pen and notepad.

"She just said that she knew there were bigger things she could be doing with her life right now." Maggie said wiping the single tear that was rolling down her cheek away.

"So she didn't seem scared; like she was running away from something or someone?"

"No, definitely not. She just wanted to make something out of herself and I guess she thought working at a college wasn't doing that for her."

"Do you know if she had any abnormal phone calls or talked to anyone out of the ordinary in the past couple of weeks?"

"No, she never mentioned anything like that. She would've told me too, we were best friends." Maggie repeated.

"Alright, thank you for your help." Kate told her and gave her a small smile. Maggie nodded and watched as the two walked away.

Once they were in the car Castle asked her, "Do you think that Julia wanted to leave because she knew that someone was following her?"

"I don't think so. Because she didn't tell her best friend, that'd be the first person I'd tell if I thought something was going to happen."

"Maybe she didn't tell her friend because she was afraid that the killer would find out. Maybe Maggie had something to do with the murder."

"Castle, this isn't one of your books. Besides, I already thought about that but Lanie's autopsy report said that is was a male who did the killing."

"Fine, but you thought of it too." He pointed out. "So where to now?" He asked looking out the windows at the buildings that were flashing by.

"Off to the bank." She replied pulling behind a car into the turn lane.

"You need to make a deposit?"

She smiled. "No. But I do need to interview our banker victim's friend. I figure, we start with the head of the bank and see if we can find anything out about the girl. We may just have to work our way down from there."

"Very nice, detective." Castle told her.

"They didn't write a book based on me for nothing." She told him as they both shared a smile.

"Touché, detective."

They arrived at the bank minutes later. They walked in and Kate showed her badge to the people waiting in line. They moved aside so she could get past them and go straight up to the front desk.

"Hello." She smiled at the lady behind the desk. "I'm detective Kate Beckett." She flashed her badge once more. "I need to speak to the President of this bank."

"Alright. Can you wait one second?" the lady asked her politely.

Kate nodded and watched as the lady walked to a side room. She looked back at Castle who was getting strange looks from some of the women who were still in line.

"Excuse me." One of the women pushed through the others and up to the front. "Are you Richard Castle?"

Castle almost rolled his eyes, but stopped just in time remembering how important his fans were to him. It was thanks to them after all that he had sold so many books and had been made so famous.

"Yes, I am." He replied and smiled back politely.

"Oh my god. My name's Allison Snider. I'm a huge fan; I've read all of your books." She said holding out her hand to shake his.

"Oh, well thank you. It's always great to meet a fan." Castle replied taking her hand in his; his smiled wider.

The other women began to shake his hand as well and before he knew it a large crowd of people were gathered around him. They held out paper and pens in hopes of getting his autograph.

The lady at the desk where Beckett was still standing came back, this time a tall, elderly man was following her.

"Hello, detective. My name is Jack Lothern, President of Wachovia Bank. They said you have some questions for me?"

"Yes. Can we go somewhere private and talk?"

"Of course. Just this way." He told her and went around the corner to lead Beckett to his office.

She walked through the crowd to where Castle was standing. "Excuse us, we have a murder to work on." Kate told the women pulling Castle by the sleeve to follow her.

"Is this the famous detective Beckett that we've been reading all about?" One of the ladies yelled out, causing the other women to go even more crazy. However, they received no response as Kate closed the door after she and Castle had entered the office.

"So what exactly would you like to know?" Mr. Lothern asked Beckett as he poured water into a glass.

"No thanks." Beckett said when he offered her the drink. Castle on the other hand took it gratefully. "How well did you know Ms. Simmons?"

He breathed in heavily, "Honestly, not very well. I usually don't have much time on my hands to meet every single person this bank hires." He told her taking a sip of water from his own cup.

"Do you know any close friends she had? Anyone who could let us know if she had been acting different lately?"

"Did you ask Travis? I think I heard something about them going on a couple of dates now and then. I didn't pay too much attention to it though seeing that it didn't mess with their professional lives."

"Travis? Do you have a last name?" Beckett asked jotting down notes as she talked.

"Travis Quillen. He works here. I gave him the day off though seeing that Stephanie just passed. I can give you his home address if you like?"

"I'd appreciate it." Beckett told him.

He pulled out a sticky note and looked up the address on the computer before writing it down. He passed the note over to Beckett.

Kate thanked him and as she and Castle stood up to leave, Mr. Lothern said, "It's a shame, really. She was so young, so much life ahead of her."

"I promise you that we'll do everything we can to catch her killer." Beckett promised him.

"Good luck." He told her. They both smiled at him and left the room in silence, leaving the bank as quickly as possible.

"You really like that, don't you?" Kate asked Castle as she drove towards the address she had just been given.

"Like what?" He asked looking towards her.

"The whole autographs; pictures; fans. It suites you." She told him looking straight ahead of her.

"I got used to it." He told her simply. "It took me a while. At first, I couldn't stand people trying to get involved with my personal life, but after it happened so many times, I just ignored it and let them do whatever. They want an autograph; I'll be patient and try to give it to them. If it wasn't for my fans, after all, I wouldn't be where I am today. I would have never met you." She turned to look at him then and he smiled at her.

"I guess that's one way to look at it." She told him.

"You don't like it, do you?" he asked her, almost certain at what she was going to say.

"It's not something I'd want to experience every single day of my life."

"I can understand that."

They were silent for a few minutes. He knew that the whole fame deal bothered Beckett and he didn't expect her to become immune to it just because he was. They would have to talk about it, there was no denying that, but right now wasn't the right time.

They pulled into a neighborhood and Beckett parked the car across the street from the house they were about to go into.

"Ready?" She asked him grabbing her gun just to be safe.

"As always." He told her, smiling and got out of the car.

They both walked up towards the house, Castle following closely behind her. She knocked on the door-once, twice, but no one answered. She turned the doorknob to find that it was unlocked. She motioned for Castle to get behind her as she cautiously opened the door, her gun out of its holster as she held it in front of her.

He saw her take a breath-the one he had written about in his very own book, Heat Wave, and watched as she took a step into the dimly lit hallway.

* * *

**So like I said, more case-related stuff but some Caskett stuff is coming soon so don't worry :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Let me start off by sincerely apologizing that it took me soooo long to write this chapter! I just started college (yippee!) and they have been keeping me busy non-stop! Classes just started on Wednesday so I'm hoping things will die down a little, but as of now it doesn't look that way.**

**Also, for some reason the link to fanfiction has been disabled at my school. wtf, right? So I came all the way home to post this just for you guys =)**

**Which leads me into a HUGE shout-out to all my readers! You guys are absolutely the best and I will try to be faster next time. (Sorry!)**

* * *

Night Falls: Chapter 8

He saw her take a breath-the one he had written about in his very own book, Heat Wave, and watched as she took a step into the dimly lit hallway.

She walked in quietly with her gun pointed ahead of her. She heard water running in the room ahead of her. She braced herself and put her hand on the swinging door in front of her.

Castle followed behind her, but kept a safe distance.

She opened the door with a hard push, sweeping the room with her gun before she saw the man ahead of her; his back facing towards her.

"Mr. Quillen." She stated lowering her gun but keeping it out nonetheless.

The man had headphones on and was silently swaying back and forth to a tune he was listening to. Beckett holstered her gun once she realized he was harmless and tapped him on the shoulder. She motioned to Castle that it was safe before the man turned around. He nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw them and Beckett held up her badge proving that she was a cop. The man nodded hesitantly and Beckett motioned for the man to remove his head phones. The man did as she asked removing his hands from the soapy water he was using to wash dishes in then went to dry them on a towel.

He removed his headphones to hear what Beckett said next, "Travis Quillen?" The man nodded at the mention of his name. "I'm Detective Beckett and this is Richard Castle. We're here to ask some questions about the murder of Stephanie Simmons."

"This is the part on television where the suspenseful music starts to play." Castle whispered from behind her.

"Zip it, Castle." She told him.

"Alright. Just this way." Quillen said leading them into the living room.

They sat on two different couches-Castle and Beckett on one; Travis Quillen on the other.

Kate pulled out her notepad before asking the first question, "How close were you and Stephanie?"

"Steph and I were friends at work. We both worked behind the desk together."

"So you wouldn't consider yourselves _'that'_ close?" Kate prodded.

"No, just friends at work."

"Really?" Castle asked looking up at the man. "According to a witness he was under the impression that you guys were dating."

"We went on a few dates-nothing serious. We just decided to stay friends-not mix work with pleasure you might say."

Castle glanced over at Kate to see if he could catch her reaction.

Kate; however, remained neutral as she said, "Was it a mutual decision?"

"Yeah. Don't get me wrong, Steph's a really great girl and all, but I was soon to learn that the attraction just wasn't there." He paused for a minute, deep in thought before continuing, "We were too much alike in certain areas. She liked action movies; I like action movies. She liked Chinese food; I like Chinese food."

"So you broke up with her because you had too much in common?" Castle asked skeptically.

"No, no of course not." Travis took a deep breath before continuing, "This may sound crazy but it was like I was dating the girl me. After a while of being with someone who is just like you in certain areas…it just gets boring. They say opposites attract and I believe that to be true, don't you detective?" Travis looked straight into her eyes waiting for her reply. Castle had also turned on the couch to face her, curious as to what she was going to say.

"No comment." Kate replied looking down.

Castle smiled as he saw her cheeks turn a light red and as a small smile appeared upon her face. He turned his attention back towards the witness before asking, "Do you know if Stephanie received any disturbing phone calls?"

"No. Or if she did, she never mentioned them to me."

"Had she been acting strange or paranoid about anything?" Beckett asked.

"No, she seemed happy like she always was."

Kate closed her notepad smiling kindly at the man in front of her. "Thank you for your time and cooperation, Mr. Quillen."

"No problem." He smiled feebly at the detective in front of him, rising when they did to shake their hands and see them off.

* * *

"It doesn't make any sense." Castle said before biting into his burger.

Once they had left Travis Quillen's house it had been past noon and neither one of them had had anything to eat yet. Castle suggested they stop to a fancy restaurant and he could take her out to eat. Kate suggested they stop at a local restaurant for a burger and a shake. In the end, Kate won.

"That's probably because he's a serial killer, Rick. They don't make sense a lot of times." She told him popping a fry into her mouth and watching him.

"But this guy seems like he has everything all planned out. The places he murdered the people…there has to be something that ties this all together. It's not the victims even though all the vic's are females, short brown hair and around the age of thirty, right?"

"Right." Kate replied.

"Ok, so if his victims aren't somehow connected why hasn't he picked a male to kill yet?"

"Probably because males are stronger. With the girl's he has the advantage and he doesn't want much hassle."

"That may be true, but I know that there's something about the victim's that is special, there's something that makes them stand out. I just can't figure out what." Castle looked down at his plate thinking about the murders.

Kate reached across the table and placed her hand in his. "Rick, we're gonna catch this guy." She told him.

He looked up at her, "I know. I just…I can't stand to see you like this."

She cocked her head to the side, "Like what?"

"The sleepless nights, the nightmares…" He trailed off. She continued to look at him acting as if she didn't know what he was talking about. He gave her a knowing look. "Believe me, I've noticed."

She took a deep breath knowing that she'd have to tell him how she felt eventually. She might as well do it now. "Some of it reminds me of my mother's case. The whole "serial killer" part. He hasn't given us any leads whatsoever and I can't afford to let those girl's family members down. In all of my dreams he kills another, and in all of my dreams we're as we are now, one step behind."

Castle watched her, listening patiently and hanging on to every words she said. She had told him once before how the killer kept reminding her of her mother's case. But this was the first time she had actually talked about it with him open and honestly and had shared her fears.

"There are tons of murderers a day who get by uncaught." She continued, "What if this is one of those times? What if this guy keeps killing and we finally give up?"

"That would never happen and do you know why?" He asked her and she looked up into his eyes, slightly shaking her head 'no'. "Because you're Kate Beckett. Kate Beckett never quits; she never gives up. And when the battle gets bloodier and people around her start to think there's no hope left, she sticks through it, always finding hope, always finding another clue, always managing somehow to come out on the other side. Will there ever be a criminal that gets away; a murder that goes about unsolved? Yeah, you'll have that one day. But not this time. And you'll keep fighting to find them-no matter what." He looked at her, taking her hand in his and giving it a gentle squeeze. "And that is yet another thing that makes you extraordinary."

She smiled softly at him as the truth of his words sank in. "Thank you, Rick." She said after a while, tightening her grip on his hand as well.

* * *

The precinct was buzzing with life when they arrived. They walked over to Beckett's desk-each taking their appropriate seat.

"Esposito! Ryan!" Beckett called when she saw the two detectives walking in. "Any connections to the locations of the murders yet?"

"System's down." Ryan replied.

"They said it should be up and running in the next couple of days. We'll let you know when we find something." Esposito told her.

"Alright, thanks guys." She told them and felt her phone vibrate against her hip. "Beckett…Alright, be right down." Kate said into the phone. She hung up and turned towards Castle who was busy drawing something on a notepad. "That was Lanie…" she said trying to sneak a glimpse of what he was writing on the paper but he pulled it towards him, causing her eyebrow to rise in suspicion. "…She said she had something she wanted to show us…"

"Ok." Castle said not bothering to get up from his chair and focused his attention back to the paper in his hands.

_Weird, _she thought to herself,_ he's not acting like a five year old on a sugar high this time…_

"Castle, what are you doing?" She asked, curiosity getting the best of her as she tried to catch a glimpse once more but he once again lifted the paper up just in time so she couldn't see it.

"It's almost done." He told her, a playful gleam in his eye.

She looked at him skeptically, wondering what he was up to.

"Done." He announced dramatically a minute later and handed over the paper.

She looked at it and planned to be disapproving. She planned to tell him how they were now in a work environment and he needed to be serious. She planned many things, but one of the things she didn't plan was that she would look at the piece of paper and smile about it.

She couldn't help the smile that formed on her face as she read his scribbled note to her, in only his famously known handwriting. He had drawn two stick figures. Underneath one he had written the word: 'You' and on the other: 'Me'; they were both holding hands and a heart was placed in between them.

She looked up at him; smile still in place. "Very mature, Castle."

"I knew you'd enjoy it." He told her giving her a smile back. "I was thinking, maybe I should become an artist instead." He said pointed out the stick figures.

She laughed and put the drawing down on her desk. "No, you should definitely keep your day job." She said laughing and stood up. "Come on. We've gotta go." She took his hand in hers and they made their way to the elevator.

* * *

"Aww isn't that cute?" Lanie said peering up from the dead body she was examining at the two when they walked in, hand-in-hand.

Beckett rolled her eyes and went to stand on the other side of the table; across from Lanie.

"So what do you got?" She asked letting go of Castle's hand when he handed her a pair of gloves.

"What, no details?" Lanie asked making Beckett give her a stern look. "Alright, fine. Look over here." She pointed to some bruising on the side of Julia Rolling's neck. "Looks like our friend Julia put up quite a struggle."

"Anything on the other vic's?" Kate asked after studying the contusion marks Lanie had pointed out.

"Not really." Lanie said walking around to the other tables that had corpuses laid on top.

"Alright, thanks Lanie." Beckett said turning towards the door.

"Wait a second." Lanie said just as Kate had placed her hand on the door. "There is something rather interesting that you should know about each of the victim's."

"What?" Beckett and Castle asked at the same time.

"That never gets old." Lanie said causing Beckett to blush and Castle to smirk. "If you notice, each of our four victims has something interesting in common."

"They were all shot in the neck…" Castle said aloud thinking to himself.

"First off," Lanie continued, "there are slight abrasion marks on each of the victims. This shows that there was a struggle between the victims and the killer."

"Which means that the killings weren't random." Beckett said.

"But we've already checked and we know that there's not a relationship between each of the vic's." Castle told her.

"But the marks have to mean something." Beckett told him.

"May I continue?" Lanie asked once they had both finished talking. They nodded. "Notice anything else that these victims all have in common?"

"They're all female!" Castle shouted with excitement.

"Bingo. They're all females with shoulder length brown hair." Lanie told them.

"So he was using these people to symbolize something." Beckett said turning to Castle.

"He's trying to send us a message. He's trying to tell us something." Castle continued.

"Something that he thinks only we can figure out." Beckett told him; then paused for a couple of seconds. "But what?"

"Why didn't you guys tell me there was a party down here?" Esposito asked walking through the morgue doors; Ryan following right behind him.

"Why? So you'd crash it?" Lanie asked him lifting her eyebrow. Esposito smirked at her and Lanie lowered her head back towards the corpse, blushing.

Castle and Beckett noticed the exchange between the two but said nothing as Kate's phone began to ring.

"Be right back guys." She said opening her phone and walking out the door.

"Castle, Castle, Castle…"Ryan said walking towards him.

"What?" Castle looked around confused as everyone in the room was looking at him.

"You can't tell us that you were thinking you could get by dating Kate without a talk from her friends, did you?" Esposito asked him.

"Especially since one of those friends happens to be her best friend." Lanie pointed out.

"Guys, the Captain-"

"We know about the Captain." Esposito said interrupting him. "You didn't get off that easy."

"Listen, Castle. We basically just want to reiterate what the Captain told you. If you hurt Kate, you're life could end. Simple as that." Ryan said giving him a straight face.

"Not that we think you would..." Lanie said trying to give Castle some support.

"But if you do. You're dead." Esposito told him.

"You guys are actually serious right now?" Castle asked looking around at the three people around him; all had a stern expression upon their face.

"Dead serious." Esposito said not cracking a smile.

"You better believe him. I've been an M.E. for so long that I could kill someone without leaving a trace of evidence behind. And don't believe I won't do it. You hurt my girl, it's over." Lanie told him before she heard Kate's voice on the phone approaching the morgue.

Beckett walked in a few seconds later closing her phone. She looked around at the four people in the morgue, noticing the strange smile each had on their face.

"What?" She asked them.

They all shook their heads and went back to work. Ryan and Esposito both told Lanie bye as Castle kept his focus directly ahead of him, barely nodding to Ryan and Esposito as they made their way out.

"Castle, are you alright?" Beckett asked noticing his odd behavior.

"Never better." He replied, still looking ahead of him.

She looked over at Lanie who merely shrugged. "Alright…" She said hesitantly looking at him once. "Well, we're gonna go. Let me know if you find anything else." She told the M.E.

"Will do." Lanie replied smiling. "Bye, Castle."

Castle lifted his lips in what he intended to be a smile, but ended up looking more like a grimace. He cleared his throat, "Bye."

Beckett looked questioningly at Lanie and received a shrug in return as she walked out the morgue doors; Castle following close behind her.

* * *

"What was up with you today at the morgue?" Kate asked walking through the door to Castle's penthouse that night.

"Nothing." Castle told her closing the door behind him.

"No, something definitely happened while I was out in the hall." She told him knowing that he was lying to her. "They cornered you, didn't they?"

"Cornered me?" He asked her as they walked into his kitchen.

"Pulled the whole 'protective best friends' act'."

"If by that you mean threatening to end my life, then yes that would be it." He told her.

"I guess that's one of the detriment's you have to deal with when dating a detective-protective cop friends." She told him going to place her arms around his waist.

"I suppose I'll just have to endure it." He said looking down on her, making her smile. "You're worth it anyways." He leaned his head down to brush his lips against hers.

"Aww how cute." Came a voice from the other end of the room.

They both looked up, mere inches from kissing each other, to see Alexis standing at the other end. Kate straightened herself up, but made no intentions of getting out of Rick's grasp.

"Don't mind me, I was just coming in to get a drink and decided to stop you guys before it went beyond a PG rating." Kate blushed at that comment; Castle made no attempt to try to hide his smile. "You guys ready for movie night?"

"Just about to get the snacks and drinks." Rick told her. "Beer or wine?" He asked looking back at his daughter.

Alexis rolled her eyes, "Soda."

"Alright." He said grabbing a can out of the bottom drawer. "And for you?" He asked looking at Kate.

"Soda's just fine." She told him as he handed her a can as well.

"You guys wanna go pick out a movie and I'll get the snacks?" He asked them grabbing a drink for himself as well.

"Sounds great!" Alexis said excitedly and grabbed Kate's hand pulling her towards the living room.

* * *

Two hours later they were all sitting on the couch. Rick had his arm around each of the women, Kate on his left; Alexis on his right. He smiled looking down at both of them thinking about how perfect his life had become. Kate shifted, leaning her head over to his chest, eyes still glued to the tv. Everything seemed so natural to him now-this is how he wanted it to be. Going to work with Kate then spending time with her and his daughter once they arrived home. It was perfect and he hoped it would last for a long time.

He heard a snore come from the right side of his body. He looked over to see Alexis' eyes closed.

"I think she's asleep." Castle told Kate.

Kate leaned her head up to look at the teen. "She looks exhausted."

"I keep telling her that's what happens when you study too much." Rick said as he turned back to his daughter. "Be right back." He told her and slowly got up off the couch, trying his best not to wake Alexis. He picked her up lightly in his arms and walked up the stairs towards her room.

He came back down a few minutes later to join her once more.

"She said to tell you goodnight." He told her sitting next to her, leaning her up against him.

"Seriously, Rick. How is she related to you?" Kate asked him laughing.

"What exactly are you implying, Kate?" He asked her, smiling.

She looked up at him, a sparkle in her eye, "Oh please. You aren't exactly 'Mr. Maturity'." She told him leaning her mouth up to meet his. "But it's ok. I like it." She closed her mouth on his, moving her body on top of his, straddling his waist.

He moved his hands to place on her hips deepening the kiss with his tongue. She began to rock back and forth in his lap and he involuntarily lifted his body to meet hers.

She ran her hands through his hair turning him on more and more by the second. She moved her hand down slowly stroking his chest up and down before she snuck her hand under his shirt to feel his warm skin.

He moved his hands up to cup her breast, moving them soothingly over one and then the other. He gave a light squeeze making her moan out his name in anticipation.

"Bedroom?" She whispered against his lips.

He could only nod in reply.

She wrapped her legs around his waist as he stood and they made their way towards his bedroom not bothering to worry about having their fun on the way up.

* * *

**Are you ready detectives? I've been trying to leave little clues as to what this serial killer is planning to do. I won't tell you much, but I will tell you that a clue is definitely in this chapter. Who's gonna spot it? haha the sooner we catch this guy, the better! :)**

**On a side note, this is the LONGEST chapter I have written thus far! Yay me! Haha! I hope you enjoyed it :) Not sure when the next one will be posted seeing the way college has been going, but keep a look-out. This is about to get interesting! :)**

**Reviews are greatly appreciated! :)**

**Peace!**


	9. Chapter 9

Night Falls: Chapter 9

Kate awoke to the familiar sound of the alarm clock on the bedside table. The sounds was coming from behind her, but when she tried to reach around to turn it off, she felt her hand hit against something hard. She heard a soft man and realized as her hand moved up and down in a rhythmic pattern that she was stroking Rick's chest. She moved slightly trying not to wake him but he tightened his grip around her waist, his hand slightly brushing over her hip.

"Rick." She whispered, gently nudging him with her free arm. "Rick." She repeated louder this time. God, he was a deep sleeper.

She barely saw his eyelash flash in the dark…once…twice…before he wrapped his other arm around her, cuddling his head into her hair.

"Hmm?" he murmured after he inhaled the cherry scent of her hair.

"The alarm." She said trying to look behind her at him.

He let go of her and reached over to press the snooze button.

"Actually…" He said before jerking the cord out of the wall. "There we go."

"We have to get up for work soon." Kate told him.

"Correction. _You_ have to get up for work soon." He told her cuddling with her once more. "I can sleep in as long as I want and go to work whenever I want." He breathed out, closing his eyes once more.

She laughed. "Isn't that the point of going with me-I am your muse after all."

He turned her around to face him. "No, you're so much more than that."

He bent his head down to kiss her, moving his hand around to her back. She moved her hands to roam through his already messy bed hair, gripping it in her hands and pulling him closer to her. His hand on her back moved to the side of her head, pinning her beneath him as he moved over on top of her. He deepened the kiss running a finger down her jaw line which sent a pleasure of chills throughout her whole body.

He moved back slowly, his eyes lingering over her with true compassion shining through. Her hands had moved down to his chest where they rested there, feeling his heart beat beneath them.

He smiled at her. "I love you." Her breathing stopped as she continued to look up at him. "You don't have to say anything about it. " He moved a strand piece of hair out of her face. "I just wanted to let you know what's been on my mind for a while now." He told her and kissed her again before she had a chance to talk.

She kissed him back her mind still reeling with what he had just told her. He loved her. Love? Did she believe him when he said that? Yes. Why shouldn't she? They had been dating long enough for her to realize that he was not just using her for sex. Hell, they had had a fight about it a while back when he told her that this wasn't a game to him. That was when all he had been asking for was a chance and she had given him that chance. With that, he had proven himself to her that he did have deep feelings for her and that she was an important aspect to his life.

So now the question that remained was: Did she love him? Was she in fact ready to let him tear all of her walls down around her and let her trust him with her heart? Had he already torn down all of her walls? Not yet, but he had sure come pretty damn close.

He slowly broke the kiss and moved beside her, leaning up and looking down on her. Taking her hand in his he asked, "Are you sure you want to get ready for work?"

She smiled, glad that he was giving her time and planning to keep things as they were before-normal and uncomplicated. "A few more minutes couldn't hurt." She smiled and reached up to drag his mouth back down to hers.

* * *

That few minutes turned to be a few hours until the couple was finally making their way into the precinct. Being full of detectives, everyone noticed how the two were entering late, yet they were all actually happy that the two had spent the time together. They had all noticed how they had both been staying late at the precinct, working late hours that none of the other detectives desired to follow. They all knew that even just a couple of hours would do the two some good.

They walked over to the murder board, reviewing the case as if it wasn't already still fresh in their minds. They went over the murder weapons, double checked the interviews they had taken, made a couple of calls to see if they could find anymore leads, by the time they both sat down at her desk it was nearly noon.

"You want some coffee?" He asked her beginning to rise out of his seat.

"Sure." She said and got up as well deciding it was best to get away from the case and take a break right now.

"Beckett." The Captain said, standing outside his office door motioning the detective inside. Castle began to walk over to continue to walk towards the break room. "You too, Castle."

Castle looked puzzled but followed Kate nonetheless.

The Captain closed the door once they had both stepped inside his office.

"First off, I want you both to know how much effort you have both put into this case so far." He walked over to stand in front of his desk; Castle and Beckett were standing on the other side. He motioned to the seats, which they both took. "With that being said, in all honesty I'm starting to worry about you guys. I've noticed the long hours and sleepless nights you both have been putting in; I know how stressful it can be when you're trying to catch a serial killer and you feel like you have no leads. I know all about that. People around here have been worried about you guys too and in fact, we're all a little glad to see that you both came in late today. So, for your own good, I'm ordering that we all go out and have a little celebration of our own."

Kate leaned up in her seat and started to protest, "Captain-"

"Consider it an order, detective." He told her sternly, making her sink back down into her seat.

Castle laughed. "Wow, I wish I had that kind of power."

"Oh please, Castle. You'd abuse that power if you had it."

Castle wiggled his eyebrows at that, "You might like it."

The Captain cleared his throat. "So I'll see you guys there. You can leave." He told them motioning towards the door just as his phone began to ring.

They walked out of the office minutes later. Castle had a smile planted firmly upon his face; Kate had more of a grimace type look.

"So what do you want to do on our day off?" He asked Beckett once they had reached her desk.

"We're going to try to get as much work done before we're forced to leave." She said shuffling through papers on her desk.

"That's no fun." He told her before grabbing a piece of paper and began to write on it. "Oh, I know! I could draw you another picture!"

"Castle, focus." She told him, then handed him a file, "Here you go speed-reader. Put your talents to use and see if we missed anything."

* * *

The bar that night was filled with a multitude amount of people. Some of them had known who Rick was, but had decided against asking for his autograph-focused solely on their drink. Not to mention that he was surrounded by cop friends and was having a good time so there was no point to bother him.

"I propose a toast!" Castle said over the loud noise from other people in the bar so that they could hear him. He raised his drink, "To friends."

"And to you two for finally getting your wits together and dating." Lanie spoke up making them all laugh.

Rick looked over at Kate and smiled affectionately. She returned his smile and moved in closer to him, taking his hand in hers.

They all raised their glasses once more, tipping each other's lightly and took a generous drink.

Kate had forgotten how good it felt to go and enjoy herself with friends. She was still focused on catching the killer but she decided to forget about work and enjoy where she was right now and the people she was with.

'_This just in'_, came a loud, female voice through the tv that was located overhead. They all turned to see if there was another murder that had taken place, all of them ready for anything at this point. _'Speculations have arose that notorious playboy Richard Castle,' _All eyes were now focused on him as he continued to watch the screen, _'might now be romantically involved with NYPD's finest. Are these rumors true or is Mr. Castle using Katherine Beckett as his muse for another bestseller? Stay tuned to find out on Entertainment Tonight.'_

Rick turned to Kate getting ready to offer an explanation to her, but Kate shocked them all by saying, "That's it?"

He gave her an amused look. She actually sounded disappointed. "What do you mean 'that's it'?" he questioned, not even sure he heard her right himself.

She shot him a look of irritation. "The playboy and the cop might be together?"

Castle laughed. "Sorry to disappoint you. Did you want actual confirmation?"

Kate glared at him which only amused him further. "Yes."

Everyone laughed at the two.

"Trying to scare off the deep fried Twinkies?"he asked.

"No, just claiming what's mine." She told him with a mischievous grin.

"Of course." He assured her with a grin of his own.

They both smiled at each other for some time until Castle lifted his arm to place around her and brought her into his side for a gently hug. She wrapped her arm around his back.

"You two are too damn cute." Lanie said to the couple and the others shook their heads in agreement. They all went back to their drinks and talking excitedly with one another, forgetting about work for the moment, but not realizing they were being watched from just a booth away.

* * *

**Alright guys, sorry for the delay. School's still crazy and I don't think it's going to slow down any. On the plus side; however, it is a BLAST! :D **

**Just keep watching and I'll get chapter 10 up whenever I have time :)**

**Hope you enjoyed!**

**Peace! :)**


	10. Chapter 10

Night Falls: Chapter 10

They took the taxi home that night-after Beckett had finally convince the Captain that they would be safe and would call him if anything at all seemed suspicious. Not only that, but as Rick had mentioned to him that he had warned the security in his building what was going on and they had upped it especially for him. They watched TV, after all, and had seen what had been on the news for the past week or so and being the famous author that he was, they were more than happy to assist.

Kate hated to admit it, even to herself, but the fact that there was a serial killer out there, still roaming the streets did put her on the alarm. She began to double check the doors and windows sometimes at night before they went to bed. She didn't think he would, but Rick noticed. He was grateful that the Captain had recognized it too and had given them that day off to just relax with their friends. It felt good and he could tell by the way Kate was leaning against him in the taxi as they were making their way back to his place that she was beginning to unwind.

He smiled and leaned his cheek down to the top of her head. "That was nice." He told her as he ran his hand down, soothing her arm.

"It was. We haven't done that in so long-go out with just the precinct I mean, I forgot how fun it could be."

"We should do it more often." He replied then smiled. "Oh, I know. We could invite the whole precinct over one day for a party. Like the Halloween party I had a year ago. If I remember correctly, you didn't dress up for that."

"No, I didn't." She replied, then glanced up at him and smiled. "But the look on your face made it worth it."

"How was I to know that that 'thing' was going to pop out at me? For all I knew, I thought that my wildest dreams had come true and you were indeed wearing nothing under that coat of yours."

"You have too many sexual fantasies to keep up with." She teased him. "Next, you're going to tell me about some fantasy you've had in your office while you're writing."

He just looked down at her and smirked.

"I think I might know you too well." She said and leaned her head back on his chest once more. "Who knows, maybe we'll act out some of the fantasies eventually."

"I would be more than grateful if you wanted to help act those out." They were silent for a couple of seconds and Castle glanced out the window to see all the buildings they were passing by. "Now that you know my dark secrets, what are some of yours?" He asked seductively. He nearly made her jump when he suddenly shifted, causing her to look up at him. "Let me guess. One of me and you in the bathtub; you reading a copy of Heat Wave or better yet, I'm reading it to you. We could read the pages with the incredibly hot sex scene between Rook and Nikki together." He told her suggestively. "Then act out the parts afterwards."

"Are you sure those aren't some of your fantasies?" She asked once the taxi had stopped Rick's place.

They both got out and walked in hand in hand, greeting the doorman as they made their way inside. Kate was still a little tipsy, Castle noted, as they walked towards the elevators, taking them up to his floor.

"Careful there, detective." He said as she staggered once the elevator had begun its lift. "I think someone had a little too much fun tonight." She glanced over in his direction, like she had said, the whole precinct had never really gone out before as a whole, so she decided to have her fun while she could. "It's ok." He promised her. "I promise not to take advantage of you." Then added a couple of seconds later, "Unless you want me to."

She couldn't help the smile that spread upon her face. "Is Alexis home tonight?"

"No. She went to stay at one of her friends. They have a big project or something coming up and thought it'd be better to work on it over there. Apparently I can be some sort of an annoyance for her whenever she's trying to do homework."

"Can you believe that?" She asked sarcastically.

"I know. It hurts me, it truly does." He told her playing along. "And mother is not here as well. Although, I'm not entirely sure what she's doing."

The elevator dinged its arrival and they made their way towards his door. She watched as he expertly fished out the right key and put it into the lock, turning it and swinging the door open. He moved aside, allowing her to enter first before he retrieved his keys and locked the door behind him. Kate glanced around, just making sure that nothing was out of place or looked different from the way they had last left things. Everything looked fine, so she slowly made her way over to the couch, being careful as to not bump into anything. Rick came up behind her once she had sat down.

"Can I get you anything?" he asked, stepping in front of her and taking off his jacket. He laid it carelessly on the chair opposite of them before taking a seat beside her. "We didn't really eat anything, it was mostly just drinks." He pointed out. "I could make something or we could order in?"

"Order in is fine with me." She told him.

"Alright." He said and patted her leg before he got up and made his way towards the kitchen.

He made a call to one of their favorite Chinese restaurants and soon came back to join her.

"It should be here, thirty minutes tops." He sat back down with her again, grabbing the remote from the table and turned the television on. He brought his hand up on her shoulder and carefully brought her down on top of him, with her head resting against his chest. "Do we need to talk about it?" he asked after a couple of minutes of flipping through the different channels.

"Talk about what?" she asked him.

He knew that she knew what he was talking about, but decided to explain anyways. "About the press, about what it means for us?"

She let the question hang in the air for a couple of minutes, knowing that he was patiently waiting for her reply. They had gone through the whole press argument before, but now they were a couple and he knew that it was probably bothering her. Especially with the news that came on tonight. She had tried to play it off, yes. Bu he knew how she truly felt about it, she had told him after all that she would hate to have to deal with it on a day to day basis which was almost what she was doing now.

"It doesn't change anything." She said after a while. "They're going to keep doing what they're doing, no matter what we say."

"I know." He sighed heavily, that was what he hated about the press. If you asked them to stop, they were just going to push further. "But like you said earlier tonight…do you want us to tell them? That we're a couple I mean?"

"I think they'll be able to figure it out eventually. Especially when they keep seeing the two of us together when we're not working a case."

He smiled at this. "Alright." He told her and kissed the top of her head. "Kate," he said seriously getting her attention. "I want you tell me if there's anything that's ever bothering you. I know I've probably said this a lot, but I mean it, you're special to me and I want us to last. Which means that if anything is ever bothering you, I'm going to do everything within my power to fix it. You'd be surprised how much power I actually have." He told her, smiling.

She smiled back and slowly lowered her hand down to the tops of his pants. "I think I might have an idea, actually."

"Would you like me to show you again?"

Her smile broadened, "Trying to take advantage of me?"

"Only if you'll let me." He replied, then brought his hand up to tuck her hair behind her ear, giving him a clear view into her eyes.

"And the food?" she asked as she moved her mouth closer to his.

"I'll leave a note, telling them to leave it outside the door." He replied as his mouth met with hers.

* * *

**So I feel like I owe a bit of explanation here... School's been CRAZY! Not only that, but I've been doing some solo projects of my own that involve A LOT of writing, and that's why i haven't updated in forever. Not to mention that for some dumb reason I can't log into fanfiction at my school-stupid right? Anyways, I hope you guys didn't lose interest in this story and maybe you'll even re-read it and it will give you something to do? Well, I hope so =) **

**Don't expect the next chapter anytime too soon-exams are coming up, but what I can tell you is that I've started working on it =) oh and I've started another fanfic that I think you'll enjoy! **

**That's it! Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! :D **


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